Latin Roots 18 - Raul Pacheco from Ozomatli

In this installment of the Latin Roots series, Raul Pacheco from the Grammy award-winning Latin band Ozomatli talks with WXPN’s David Dye about how politics influence music. Pacheco knows a lot about this topic, as Ozomatli have been a politically-driven band from their inception.

The band started playing together sixteen years ago while they were working for the Peace and Justice Center of Los Angeles and were asked to play for picketers during a strike. The members of the group all have different musical backgrounds, which contribute to the band’s genre-spanning sound that draws from Latin influences such as salsa and cumbia, in addition to hip hop, rock, jazz, reggae, and funk. Pacheco starts off this Latin Roots segment with the song “De Paisano a Paisano” by Los Tigres del Norte, who are famous for the norteno style of music that comes from the border of Mexico and the southern United States. “De Paisano a Paisano” talks about the shared experience of Mexicans across the border and what fuels their migration. Pacheco also plays a song from his own band, Ozomatli, called “La Terperatura,” which is about encouraging people to voice their opinions about what it means to be an immigrant and a part of the political discussion.